Waiters guilty of torturing teen

Wednesday

Nov 24, 2010 at 12:01 AMNov 24, 2010 at 8:49 AM

STOCKTON - Jurors found Anthony Waiters guilty Tuesday of torturing and abusing a 16-year-old boy held captive in a Tracy home next door to his, where the teen was shackled, beaten, cut, burned and starved.

Scott Smith

STOCKTON - Jurors found Anthony Waiters guilty Tuesday of torturing and abusing a 16-year-old boy held captive in a Tracy home next door to his, where the teen was shackled, beaten, cut, burned and starved.

Waiters, 31, had rebuffed a prosecutor's plea deal and taken his case to trial, unlike three others who were accused. Waiters will likely spend the rest of his life in prison for his part in the abuse that intensified over more than a year.

The jury deliberated for more than three days to find Waiters guilty of nine felony counts, including torture, aggravated mayhem, child abuse, false imprisonment and assault with caustic chemicals.

During the trial, Kyle Ramirez, now 18, looked across the courtroom and identified Waiters as one of the people who sawed on his arm with a knife and then poured salt, butter and bleach in the wound before wrapping it with tape.

Waiters was arrested along with Michael Schumacher; Schumacher's wife, Kelly Lau; and Ramirez's onetime caretaker, Carén Ramirez. Those three took plea deals for state prison sentences of 30, 33 and 34 years, respectively.

Kyle Ramirez escaped from captivity Dec. 1, 2008, by springing from a trampoline over the back soundwall of the Schumacher-Lau home on Tennis Lane. He wore only boxers, and he had a shackle around his left ankle and fresh scars from the abuse.

The teenager said at the time that he feared his captors were about to chop him up and dump his remains in the Delta.

But the verdict will surely come as a turning point in Kyle Ramirez's life, said his aunt and uncle, who now care for him. An emotional Sydney and Ralph Perry said that despite their nephew's tormented past, he is now living a normal life.

"He's happy the people who did this to him won't be able to find him and do anything to him," Ralph Perry said outside the courtroom. "He can do the things he wants to do in life without looking back and being fearful."

They offered few details of the crime or how the teenager came to live in such conditions, choosing rather to focus on his life since he escaped. They said he has been in counseling for the past two years.

Sydney Perry described Kyle Ramirez as having a "tremendous soul."

His biggest obstacle since the abuse had been testifying in court, having to recount the horror he endured before a crowd of strangers. The couple said the teen often worried about his captors somehow hurting him or his new family.

As the court clerk read the guilty verdicts, the Perrys openly cried and wiped their eyes.

"I'm sure he's going to be very happy," Ralph Perry said. "I'm happy that he's our son now, and he will be for as long as he wants to be."

Waiters, who sat in court nervously bouncing his leg, is scheduled to return to court Jan. 18, when San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Terrence Van Oss is expected to sentence him.

San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Angela Hayes said outside court that she was thrilled with the verdicts. After talking with the jurors, she said they deliberated so long because they labored over each count.

Jurors also found themselves wanting to know what became of the other three defendants, but they put themselves back on track because they knew that those sentences were nothing they were allowed to consider, Hayes said.

"I'm so happy for Kyle," she said. "It's been a long time coming."

Defense attorney Allen Jose said he had a tough case defending Waiters, noting that it took jurors so long to reach their final verdicts. He said Waiters was obviously disappointed.

"We'll consider his legal options when he comes back in January," Jose said, hinting at an appeal.